Just a note to thank all of our readers for their continued presence on Vox Nova blog. We recently received our check from Patheos, and this time we have donated the funds to Catholic Relief Services to support communities affected by the pandemic. Read more
This is a continuation of my reflections and ramblings on Rerum Novarum. You can read the previous two posts in Part I and Part II. Our discussion got off to an interesting start. One of the women who belongs to the reading group called attention to a number of references to women and gender roles that sound, frankly, sexist to modern ears. For instance, we have the categorical declaration that Women, again, are not suited for certain occupations; a woman... Read more
To follow up on my post from last week containing my open letter to Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of Columbus, I want to link to a column by Fr. Peter Daly, a retired priest in Washington DC. He writes for the National Catholic Reporter, and his anger at what the KofC did (or did not do) is palpable, leading to his very public resignation from the Knights. Here is a sampler: I’m done! I’m done with the Knights of Columbus.... Read more
In this blog post I continue my random thoughts and reflections on Rerum Novarum, the first Papal encyclical on what came to be called Catholic Social Teaching. The first part, with some background details, can be found here. I initially thought to keep editing and adding to that post (which is what I said there) but I decided that it made more sense to create a new blog post for each set of reflections. Last week my reading group focused... Read more
As you may be aware, on Tuesday, June 2, President Trump visited the national shrine of St. John Paul II, which is run (or at least financially supported by) the Knights of Columbus. This visit came on the heels of his controversial photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal in Washington DC, a visit which was preceded by the tear-gassing and forcible removal of non-violent demonstrators, including the pastor of St. John’s. The visit the shrine was a ill-disguised campaign... Read more
In an effort to break out of the isolation brought on by the pandemic, I followed up on an idea to organize a small reading group on Catholic social teaching (CST), with the aim of reading, in order, all of the Papal encyclicals (plus the occasional exhortation or apostolic letter) on CST. We are going to meet weekly via Zoom, and have begun with the ur-text of CST, Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum. I posted about this great encyclical when... Read more
In 2005, novelist David Foster Wallace gave a university commencement speech that began like this: There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?” Wallace immediately seeks to reassure his... Read more
Vox Nova is pleased to welcome a guest post by Leanne Ogasawara. Joan Didion had it right when she said life in Los Angeles has an apocalyptic quality. She wasn’t just talking about earthquakes and fires that strike like lightning, but we have demon winds that howl in autumn and winter rains that can cause mountains to slide into the sea. She wrote of sleepless nights with “peacocks screaming in the olive trees.” In Pasadena their shrieks can surely... Read more
Greetings from Buffalo, NY, USA. Today begins Passover, and tomorrow begins the Christian Triduum. For many across the world today, these traditions are bittersweet to say the least. As of this writing, the United States – currently the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic – just reported its highest daily death rate yet; in Spain, deaths had declined but are on the rise again. We will not be gathering for public worship this year. While I am fortunate to be spending... Read more
Vox Nova is again pleased to welcome a guest post by Joe Georges As the COVID-19 pandemic expands, one archdiocese or diocese after another has announced the suspension of all public Masses for at least the time being: Seattle, Boston, Oakland, Los Angeles, Washington, DC., Little Rock, Chicago, Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, San Jose. The list has grown nearly every day. And even before Masses were being cancelled, and perhaps churches closed, the faithful were being dispensed from their... Read more
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